Kelsey’s Story…

Overview

Kelsey MacLean is the Founder and Creative director of Kelsey MacLean, a line of custom-embroidered luxury apparel initially launched in 2013. The line was originally only available in high end hotels, resorts, country clubs and golf clubs. She was named one of Oklahoma’s 50 most powerful people, Next Generation in 2015. Her company Fore Kids Golf LLC, DBA Kelsey MacLean has earned Preferred Vendor status for The Ritz-Carlton Hotels, and is an Official Licensee of the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Network. Kelsey is excited to now offer her line directly to you.

Kelsey’s Story…

I was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. My early years were spent on our family farm where I developed a deep love for animals, hiking, riding horses and ATV’s, and showing our English Springer Spaniels.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia prior to entering first grade, and my family was told I “would never be able to fill out a job application”. I found school to be a difficult and frustrating endeavor and later in life, I was further diagnosed with ADHD helping to explain my struggles. Nonetheless, I graduated proudly from Pine Manor College, in Boston, MA, in 1996 with a BA in International Business.

For most of my career, I was a real estate agent in Boston. My business partner and I specialized in working with developers and creating high-end condominiums and townhouses in downtown Boston, primarily in the Beacon Hill and Back Bay neighborhoods.

In 2010, I married and moved to Pennsylvania with my husband, Robert McLean. After triumphing over infertility, we welcomed our “Miracle Baby,” Ian Stirling McLean, into the world in February, 2012.

While heavily pregnant I visited a country club golf shop looking to purchase baby clothing for my unborn son embroidered with the club’s logo. What I found was fashion forward, miniature versions of adult clothing, even down to the use of tech fabrics. I was appalled, and when I ask for something a bit more tasteful and made from cotton I was told that the golf apparel industry did not provide that type of clothing for babies and young children. Looking beyond the world of golf, I found it difficult to find well-made, timeless yet comfortable clothing for babies and children anywhere in the marketplace. Looking back on old photos of myself as a child, I realized that fashion trends come and go. I never want my son to look back on photos of himself as a child and wonder what on earth we were thinking.

A few months after Ian was born, I founded Fore Kids Golf LLC and began designing my own line. With no formal training in design, apparel or manufacturing, and having an infant child, I decided to follow my dream. My first collection premiered in January 2013 at The PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, FL. The collection received a warm welcome from the golf community, and wholesale orders from many well-known and prestigious golf clubs, country clubs, and hotels in the USA and across the world began rolling in.

In 2014, Fore Kids Golf, LLC moved operations from our garage to a warehouse and office facility. Additionally, we installed a full embroidery facility allowing us to provide our customers with fast turnaround times and exceptional embroidery quality. My husband Robert McLean, became the CEO in order to keep my dyslexic ADHD mind as far away from the numbers as possible and allowing me to focus on my own strengths.

In 2015, at the request of the Ritz Carlton Hotels, I designed an Adult Spa Robe. Adults were not going to be happy wearing a product labeled Fore Kids Golf so I needed a new brand. Unable to trademark my own name, I trademarked “Kelsey MacLean.” It is under this brand that I have launched my retail website and it is under this brand that my story will continue to develop. This may be the end of one chapter but it is the just the beginning of our story. Stay tuned!!